The story behind the cover
The story behind the cover
Gianni Berengo Gardin
November 10, 2025
Gianni Berengo Gardin liked to say that he had always felt Venetian, even though, “I happen to have been born in Santa Margherita Ligure, which is where my father Alberto, a genuine Venetian, met my Swiss mother Carmen, who ran the large luxury Hotel Imperiale”. The photographer grew up in Rome, before his parents moved to Venice with him after the Second World War. That was where his grandparents had a leather-dyeing atelier. They later opened a shop selling pearls and Murano glass, near the Piazza San Marco, where the young Berengo Gardin often helped out. He began his photographic career in Venice.
Time and again, Berengo Gardin took photographs in the Piazza San Marco, which led to the 1960 image showing the flooding there: “I took this photo of the square from above, from the Basilica. I positioned myself between the horse sculptures. I deliberately climbed up there because I imagined that high water could create interesting situations,” he remembered. From that perspective, he captured several motifs showing the square almost deserted under floodwaters. The ornamental paving is still visible, framed by the rows of columns surrounding the square. Only three passers-by, with umbrellas and rubber boots, trudge through the ankle-deep water in our cover motif.
In 1965, the photographer moved to Milan, nevertheless returning many times to Venice and documenting the changes to the city. What hurt him most was that “Venice no longer belonged to the Venetians”, but to tourism and commerce. Consequently, he became involved in an initiative fighting against the damaging impact of cruise ships. Despite all the changes, “The attraction that the city continues to exert is without question. Venice has a unique beauty and is full of contradictions,” Berengo Gardin once said. “This is why I invite every person wanting to visit the city to respect it, and to try and align with its true soul, which is difficult to discern behind the curtain of fast tourism. Venice must be respected, loved and cared for, so that it can be passed on to the next generations: we can not keep such beauty from them.”
Ulrich RüterTime and again, Berengo Gardin took photographs in the Piazza San Marco, which led to the 1960 image showing the flooding there: “I took this photo of the square from above, from the Basilica. I positioned myself between the horse sculptures. I deliberately climbed up there because I imagined that high water could create interesting situations,” he remembered. From that perspective, he captured several motifs showing the square almost deserted under floodwaters. The ornamental paving is still visible, framed by the rows of columns surrounding the square. Only three passers-by, with umbrellas and rubber boots, trudge through the ankle-deep water in our cover motif.
In 1965, the photographer moved to Milan, nevertheless returning many times to Venice and documenting the changes to the city. What hurt him most was that “Venice no longer belonged to the Venetians”, but to tourism and commerce. Consequently, he became involved in an initiative fighting against the damaging impact of cruise ships. Despite all the changes, “The attraction that the city continues to exert is without question. Venice has a unique beauty and is full of contradictions,” Berengo Gardin once said. “This is why I invite every person wanting to visit the city to respect it, and to try and align with its true soul, which is difficult to discern behind the curtain of fast tourism. Venice must be respected, loved and cared for, so that it can be passed on to the next generations: we can not keep such beauty from them.”
LFI 8.2025+-
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Gianni Berengo Gardin+-
Born on October 10, 1930, in Santa Margherita Ligure, close to Genoa, Berengo Gardin spent his childhood in Rome, before moving to Venice with his parents after the Second World War. There he became a member of the La Gondola photo club and, in the fifties, he began publishing his first pictures in magazines and launching his career. His primary focus was on humanistic photography in reportage style; and life in Italy – which he mostly captured in analogue black and white – became the central feature. As of 1964, he lived and worked in Milan – for large companies, as well as being a freelance photojournalist. He has been represented by the Contrasto agency since 1990, and his archive is managed by the Fondazione FORMA. His body of work has appeared in over 260 publications and more than 360 solo exhibitions. He was the winner of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award in 1995, and was inducted into the Leica Hall of Fame in 2017. Gianni Berengo Gardin passed away in Genoa on August 7, 2025. More